GOODYEAR, Ariz. – In manager Terry Francona’s world, relievers have to stay on the alert. Unless you’re a closer, he might use you at anytime in any situation.

Cody Allen found that out as a rookie last year. At the first sign of trouble, be it the sixth, seventh of eighth inning, Allen was usually in the game or getting ready to make an appearance.

It didn’t matter if he had to face a left-hander or right-hander. Francona, like most managers, believes more games are lost early than late, which means it’s nice to have a closer for the sixth, seventh and eight innings as well as the ninth.

“Whenever we got into a jam last year, Cody was the guy we used,” said Francona.

When the Indians released closer Chris Perez after the season, GM Chris Antonetti and Francona said they had two internal candidates to replace him -– Allen and Bryan Shaw. But they both knew Francona preferred to find another closer because he liked the versatility of Allen and Shaw, who could parachute into a hot spot in any inning and cool things down.

So former Milwaukee Brewer closer John Axford was signed in December, giving Francona free reign to use Allen and Shaw as he sees fit in the seventh and eighth innings.

“I see this year as just picking up where I left off last year,” said Allen, 6-1 with a 2.43 ERA last season. “Last year I kind of worked my way into that late role. I didn’t break camp as a set-up guy. I was a middle relief guy and just kind of filling in. Now, I’ll probably be in the back end somewhere.”

The Indians have 20 relievers in camp. They lost four bullpen arms over the offseason to free agency in Perez, Rich Hill, Joe Smith and Matt Albers so there are some holes to fill. While Francona and GM Chris Antonetti will decide who can fill the vacancies, Allen already has a spot reserved so he’s not going have to make the club in spring training like he did last year.

“Cody and Bryan Shaw pitched a lot last year and they’re going to pitch a lot this year,” said Francona. “I’d like to start them about a week behind everyone else. This will give us a chance to look at the other guys.”

Allen made 77 appearances last season, second most in the AL. The 77 appearances were the second most in club history next to Bobby Howry’s 79 in 2005.

He did it at a high velocity as well, striking out 88 in 70 1/3 innings. The 88 strikeouts were the most by an Indians’ reliever since Paul Shuey had 103 in 1999. Allen finished third in club history with an average of 11.26 strikeouts per nine innings for relievers behind Vinnie Pestano at 12.19 and Shuey at 11.35.

No wonder Francona is giving him a break.

“I think it’s a good plan,” said Allen. “Last year I came in game ready. Now we’re using spring training to get ready for the season.

“It’s tough for me to go out in a game, bullpen session or live BP session and go three-quarter speed. I like to go full speed all the time so I can find a rhythm.”

So by spacing out his appearances early in camp, Allen can still throw hard and have some added recovery time.

Allen is a power pitcher. He comes out throwing a 95 to 96 mph fastball and stays with it. His goal is to throw every pitch, outside the occasional curveball, through the catcher not to him.

Last year his average fastball velocity was 95.4 mph and he threw the heater 72 percent of the time.

It was that fastball that helped Allen move to the backend of the pen after Pestano struggled and Smith and had to move from the seventh to the eighth inning. Allen said there was another thing that helped the pen.

“When we picked up Rzep (lefty Marc Rzepczynski), that really helped out,” said Allen. “It mean I wasn’t facing lefties all the time because Rzep could come in and get a tough lefty.

“Picking him up at the deadline is what catapulted us as a bullpen. We had a great last couple of months.”

Over the last two months of the season, when the Indians were trying to get to the postseason by any available avenue, Allen posted a 1.88 ERA in August and a 2.25 ERA in September. In his last 10 games of the season, he did not allow a run as the Indians won the AL’s first wild card spot by going 21-6 in September.

But that was last year. What about 2014?

“The old cliché is you want to go one step farther and build on last year,” said Allen. “That’s the truth, but we understand it’s going to be tough.

“It’s a lot tougher to build on 92 wins because the bar is already set extremely high. We got a lot of work in front of us.”

Follow Us

cleveland.com is powered by Plain Dealer Publishing Co. and Northeast Ohio Media Group. All rights reserved (About Us).The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Northeast Ohio Media Group LLC.